Under The Tongue Discusses Music, Show Playing, and Doing What They Love to Do Best!

Alternative tribal rock duo UNDER THE TONGUE have not one but two albums out, with an upcoming third album expected soon enough. But before that happens, a new single will be released by the early summer time. Aside from music, they will continue to do what they love, music and playing shows as well as much more on the way! Find out what else the band had to discuss below.


1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

UTT was formed in 2008 in Berlin by Mark Eden & Julia Eden. The history is interesting… remember Myspace? Well, let us go back a bit…Julia has always loved everything Australian and she saw that Mark, who is an Aussie,  was playing at a festival in Berlin with his solo project and went to watch the show. After the gig she wrote on Mark’s MySpace page saying that she really loved the gig. Mark was quite curious so he checked out her page and in the description it said that she played bass and piano. “I was looking for a bass player and the fact that she played piano was a huge bonus and later I found out that she sang as well and I was blown away.”, said Mark. We met a few months later and realized that we loved the same music. So we thought it was a natural progression to start a new project together, which would encompass all our influences. Here we are 12 years later, married, bandmates and partners in crime, still making music & music videos we love and still enjoying the process.

2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?

Mark: I can tell you exactly how it came about, we were walking in the courtyard in our Berlin building and talking about tinctures, homeopathy and the many ways that people try to heal themselves as well as get wasted. One of the ways is through drops under the tongue and I said to her at that very moment what a great name for a band. We love the ambiguity of the name.

3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?

Under The Tongue is based in Berlin which has a thriving music scene and it seems that every third person in this city is a musician. Berlin itself is a hub for creativity. Tiny bars and small pop up concert venues are everywhere, which is great and leaves no taste uncatered for. As far as our favorite live local bands go, most of them have disbanded which is a shame. There are a few bands that we have seen live and love…for example: Seeed and Beatsteaks. Both bands really know how to put on a great show.

4. How would you describe your style?

Alternative rock with tribal and electro/experimental elements and singalong melodies. You could say that originally we wanted to make rock music for films and everything has stemmed from there. Imagine music for the series Peaky Blinders, a Dracula film or a Tim Burton movie and then you are on the right track.  If your unconscious could sing... you just might be listening to Under The Tongue.

5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?

So far we have released two albums. “Make A Wish’, which is a classic rock pop album and ‘Potions’ which is more cinematic, experimental and epic in its approach. We wanted the videos for  ‘Potions’ to carry the same feeling as well, hence the theatrical vibe to the videos. You can expect something new every album. There's always the thread of driving drums, simple and strong guitar lines, singalong choruses, melancholic melodies mixed with  a bit of tongue and cheek. We write, record, produce and arrange everything ourselves. The last video we’ve directed, edited and produced as well as created all the sets ourselves  which was fun and a load of work at the same time but truly satisfying.

6. Do you have any new music in the works?

Yes, we’ve finished our third album ‘Art of Perception’ and we'll release it song by song starting in May 2020 with the first single ‘Waterfall’ which will be accompanied by a video as well, which is super exciting. There are many new songs already in the works, enough for another album.

7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?

We have a release show booked for Berlin in September. Considering what is going on in the world right now regarding Covid-19, we hope that it will take place as we had to cancel some shows already this year like so many other musicians. We're in the process of organizing more concerts right now in Europe and the UK. We have quite a few fans in Mexico and South America and would love to combine tour as well as holidays in those countries. So we hope to see you soon wherever you are.

8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?

As far as the future goes for the band we will continue writing recording, playing shows, making videos and having fun doing what we love…..That’s the plan.

9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

You can listen or purchase our music on all the usual platforms like Spotify, Youtube, iTunes, Amazon, Deezer etc. Also it is possible to get your physical copies and merch through our shop on our official website under-the-tongue.com.

10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?

We would like the listener to remember how they felt in that particular moment. Whether it be familiar, uncomfortable, emotional, melancholic or happy and hopefully it sparks something unforgettable in their imagination.